Settlement in the class action lawsuit
Anthropic has now proposed a settlement in the class action lawsuit brought by three US authors (Bartz v Anthropic) and is prepared to pay out 1.5 billion dollars. This would be the first major settlement in legal proceedings concerning AI and copyright. However, only 500,000 of the total 7 million pirated books are covered by the settlement and are eligible for compensation. Eligible works are those that have an ISBN/ASIN number and were registered with the US Copyright Office within five years of publication, up to three months prior to the download: the one from LibGen took place in June 2021, and the one from PiLiMi in July 2022.
Last week, a judge provisionally approved the settlement.
Is your work included?
The definitive list of pirated works will be published on 2 October 2025. ProLitteris recommends: do not get your hopes up, but do fill in the form if you find your book on the list. Those who are listed will be informed about how to make a claim in the class action.
For some time now, the magazine *The Atlantic* has been compiling its own database of pirated works. Random checks show that several Swiss authors also appear in the results.
Unsatisfactory ruling on the main issue
On the merits of the case, we consider the court’s ruling to be problematic as regards the training of AI systems using works that were not ‘stolen’. In its ‘summary judgement’, the court assumes that feeding the AI with books constituted ‘fair use’ – in other words, was legally permissible. Only the storage of the pirated copies is deemed illegal. Further details can be found here. ProLitteris will provide further updates on the progress of these legal proceedings. You do not need to take any action in relation to ProLitteris’s activities – the rights we manage on your behalf are not affected by the settlement in the USA.